Friday, March 18, 2011

I went looking for bottled water and toilet paper in Nagoya tonight not because I am dehydrated or suffering from diarrhoea, but because I read on Twitter they were in short supply. Indeed both "necessities" were. I couldn't find either item in any of the many convenience stores, liquor stores or supermarkets I cycled past.

Since the 3/11 earthquake and tsunami off the coast of Sendai and the subsequent nuclear meltdown in Fukushima, certain goods in Japan such as bottled water, diapers, toilet rolls and instant ramen have become suddenly unavailable, even in cities over 500km from the affected area. You eat, you drink, you defecate. Life reduced to its very survival basics.

I did however discover something I have never seen before. A 4 liter (four litre!) bottle of whisky, lots of them in fact. "Ocean Lucky Whisky" seemed particularly inapt.